ET deals: 25% off Dell Latitude E6430u ultrabook with SSD

You’re likely familiar with ultrabooks, which are laptops rated by Intel to meet high standards of thinness, battery life, and other portability features like rapidly waking from sleep. The Dell Latitude E6430u passes the speed and battery tests with flying colors, thanks to a speedy 128GB SSD and a power-sipping low-voltage Core i3-3227U processor. Measuring just 0.82-inches and barely tipping the scales at 3.7 pounds, it’s easy on the shoulders too.

One of the nice things about getting a Dell laptop is how easy they make it for professional users. This means it comes standard with things like a three-year basic hardware service, with the option to upgrade to up to five years of ProSupport. It also has business class security features baked in, like Dell Data Protection and Encryption.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for some, the E6430u is built to last, as the only ultrabook tested to 14 MIL-STD-810G standards. You can also feel good about using it, since it was designed to be friendly to the environment. It features an EPEAT Gold rating, and scores well in terms of energy efficiency and being free of substances like brominated flame retardant and PVC.

This laptop runs the familiar Windows 7 Professional OS standard, but Windows 8 Pro is available for those interested. Just about the only thing you give up in the name of portability is an internal optical drive, but with the starting price reduced from over $1,065 to just $799 after a sizable 25% discount, you probably won’t miss it much.